The Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue is an automatic watch whose dial is made of sapphire crystal rather than metal, allowing the eye to look straight into the movement’s architecture. It is powered by the fully skeletonised SXH7 calibre, visible from both sides of the case, and stands apart through its light blue Super-LumiNova hour markers, applied by hand onto the sapphire dial. It can be worn on a nubuck leather strap or a steel Milanese bracelet.
Two years after the original Promenade Transparencies Viridian Green x Fratello Watches made its case for radical clarity, Czapek returns to the same idea with a different palette. The premise has not changed: a dial made of sapphire crystal rather than metal, engineered to let the eye travel directly into the movement’s architecture. It is precisely the kind of contemporary watchmaking the Dubail teams follow closely, as it shows how the Geneva house reinterprets its founder’s legacy today.
Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue: the sapphire crystal dial reveals the seven openworked bridges of the SXH7 calibre.
A sapphire dial designed to be looked through
The Promenade Transparencies dial is not openworked — it is transparent. Where a skeleton watch cuts windows into a metal plate, Czapek removes the obstacle altogether. Sapphire crystal becomes the support for the display, and the movement itself becomes the decoration. The Aqua Blue tone supports that reading rather than competing with it: it adds depth, filters the light and brings the gear train forward instead of concealing it.
Light blue Super-LumiNova markers, applied by hand
This is the main aesthetic novelty of the edition. Unlike the metallic hour markers of the Promenade Transparencies’ first edition, the Aqua Blue introduces a new execution: each index is a block of Super-LumiNova in light blue, applied by hand and affixed to the sapphire crystal dial. By day, the effect is that of a solid, almost graphic material set against a transparent background. After dark, the markers glow in exactly the same light blue tone, giving a chromatic continuity that is rare on this type of construction.
Each index is a block of light blue Super-LumiNova, applied by hand onto the sapphire crystal dial.
The SXH7 calibre: seven bridges, read from both sides
Visible from both sides of the case, the automatic Calibre SXH7 is a fully skeletonised evolution of Czapek’s Calibre SXH5, redesigned specifically to be as compelling dial-side as it is through the caseback. Its seven openworked bridges, angled from the outer edge of the movement to grip the gear train, are a direct reference to the multiple-bridge architecture of François Czapek’s 19th-century pocket watches. The micro-rotor, machined in 100% recycled platinum, is engraved on both faces — a detail that only makes sense because the movement is meant to be looked at from every angle.
Three-quarter view: the fully skeletonised automatic SXH7 calibre and its small seconds sub-dial at 4:30.
Reverse engineering in the service of legibility
Making a movement legible from the front requires rethinking it in depth. To achieve a fully legible front, Czapek’s engineers reversed the entire escapement, relocated the small seconds to a sub-dial at 4:30 so that it could be driven directly off the fourth wheel, and redesigned the crown and keyless works to sit correctly on the dial side. These are not decorative choices: they govern the visual balance of the watch as much as its technical construction.
Nubuck or Milanese: two readings of the same watch
The Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue can be worn on a nubuck leather strap or with a steel Milanese bracelet. The first emphasises the softer, more dressy character of the piece and extends the depth of the blue; the second gives it a brighter, more contemporary presence, playing on the affinity between the steel mesh and the polished surfaces of the case. Two temperaments for one watch — best tried side by side.
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